Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice Field Diary

The Beyond EPICA project completed its fourth year of work last field season (2023-24).

The field camp at Little Dome C (LDC), established during the 2019-20 season, is now open and all field participants for the 2024-25 field campaign (November 2024-to-January 2025) are on their way to camp. It is the fourth ice core drilling campaign.

An international team made up of 16 people will continue the deep drilling campaign. They will work for over two months at LDC to reach depths of oldest ice and close to the bottom.

For more information about the BEOI project, please visit the homepage.

15. January 2025

15 January 2025

Pancakes for breakfast.

14. January 2025

14 January 2025

Sampling the 50m trench in 2 teams of 3 people.

13. January 2025

13 January 2025

How the rockdrill came to the surface, just the inner core barrel, the outer barrel, reamer and drill head are lost.

12. January 2025

12 January 2025

The tip of the rock drill. FLTR: the grey drill head with hard inserts, the golden reamer with diamond impregnated patches, the outer core barrel and partly visible the connection to the tubing.

11. January 2025

11 January 2025

The last filter run brought a moderately filled chip chamber to the surface.

10. January 2025

10 January 2025

The bottom of the core caught during run #904.

9. January 2025

9 January 2025

Group picture with ice core published with the official press release. Of course, the ice cores are thrown away firn cores from the LEGACI drilling at LDC. FLTR: front row: Ailsa Chung, Lison Soussaintjean, Inès Gay, Lisa Ardoin, Johannes Lemburg, Martin Leonhardt; back row: Frank Wilhelms, Danilo Collino, Barbara Seth, Marie Bouchet, Julien Westhoff, Gunther Lawer, Manuela Krebs, Matthias Hüther, Federico Scoto; missing: Michele Scalet.

8. January 2025

8 January 2025

Worn cutter and debris frozen to the drill head during run #898 without penetration.

7. January 2025

7 January 2025

Unlatching the core barrel and putting a top plug. Shielded in the dark with a paper bag.

6. January 2025

6 January 2025

Pushing the core out in red light to preserve the contained minerals for optical dating.

5. January 2025

5 January 2025

Moving the core into the dark processing cave..

4. January 2025

4 January 2025

Bag 2775, we are deeper than the EPICA Dronning Maud Land drilling.

3. January 2025

3 January 2025

Lison as seen in the camera from the driller’s operating desk while cleaning of the slush pan.

2. January 2025

2 January 2025

Visit of the Australian MYIC science team. Left side: Julian Westhoff, Barbara Seth, Daniel Baggenstos, Manuela Krebs, Liv Grover-Johnson, Martin Leonhardt, Derryn Harvie, Chris Wilkinson. Right side: Joel Pedro, Frank Wilhelms, Chelsea Long, Chris Plummer, Etienne Gros, Mark Cook.

1. January 2025

1 January 2025

Halo on 12th November 2024.

31. December 2024

31 December 2024

Impressions from the core processing marathon the two days before: Scraping samples for the PICARRO measurements.

30. December 2024

30 December 2024

The late shift passed 2700 m.

29. December 2024

29 December 2024

Sorting boxes on a Sunday afternoon.

28. December 2024

28 December 2024

Common pizza dinner with the Australian MYIC traverse team. FLTR: 5th, 6th + 7th row: Michele Scalet, Barbara Seth, Matthias Hüther, Ailsa Chung, Chris Gallagher, Danilo Collino, Federico Scoto, Frank Wilhelms; 4th row: Gunther Lawer, Rob Teasdale, Lisa Ardoin, Johannes Lemburg, Ryan Kunst, 3rd row: Nate Payne, Chris Wilkinson; 2nd row: Martin Leonhardt, Damien Beloin, Jack McLeod, Lison Soussaintjean, Liv Grover Johnson, Marie Bouchet, Julien Westhoff; 1st row: Tim Harris, Dave Holley, Inès Gay, Manuela Krebs.

27. December 2024

27 December 2024

The first –20°C ice core boxes stowed in a reefer container at MZS station.

26. December 2024

26 December 2024

Spotting the Australian traverse to the – to be moved – MYIC site.

25. December 2024

25 December 2024

Our Christmas Card.

24. December 2024

24 December 2024

Lemmi, greasing the logger for good thermal contact, with the pressure housing in front.

23. December 2024

23 December 2024

Mixed fruit ice-cream for the camp. “Thank You” Barbara and Matthias.

22. December 2024

22 December 2024

Yet another celebration in the science trench.

21. December 2024

21 December 2024

Comparison of the stable water isotope record, measured directly at LDC in shaved samples from the BELDC core, the EPICA Dome-C record and a commonly referred marine benthic stack.

20. December 2024

20 December 2024

Aerial picture of the LDC camp, taken with a drone.

19. December 2024

19 December 2024

Ailsa setting up the ApRES.

18. December 2024

18 December 2024

Manuela drilling an ice core.

17. December 2024

17 December 2024

Today we finished processing the brittle zone. The storage container is empty.

16. December 2024

16 December 2024

We have also rearranged the processing line to increase efficiency.

15. December 2024

15 December 2024

Lisa giving a presentation about basal material in ice cores to prepare and excite us for the basal ice section we will soon drill.

14. December 2024

14 December 2024

Celebrating core 2400, the start of the oldest stratigraphic ice ever drilled. FLTR: last row: M. Hüther, B. Seth, J. Westhoff, J. Lemburg, M. Krebs (sitting), L. Ardoin, D. Collino, G. Lawer, M. Scalet, middle row: F. Wilhelms, M. Bouchet, A. Chung, L. Soussaintjean, F. Scoto, front row: M. Leonhardt, I. Gay.

13. December 2024

13 December 2024

An example of initiating a 2 cm cut and then breaking the ice core.

12. December 2024

12 December 2024

Halo last night.

11. December 2024

11 December 2024

We celebrated core 2300 in the warm driller's cabin. Unfortunately, we took too long to take a picture, so the core melted.

10. December 2024

10 December 2024

Federico and Marie happily enjoying the freedom by the working autosampler in the PICARRI system.

9. December 2024

9 December 2024

No drill liquid found in the electronics, just a broken shield of a cable. We assume it should work stable again and be a reliable spare on the shelf.

8. December 2024

8 December 2024

Palletizing the boxes.

7. December 2024

7 December 2024

The morning shift passing 2222.22 m.

6. December 2024

6 December 2024

The PICARRI setup.

5. December 2024

5 December 2024

The ice core box shield is effective, at least in the morning.

4. December 2024

4 December 2024

Birthday selfie to Saverio.

3. December 2024

3 December 2024

Lemmi maintaining a shaft with a halo in the background.

2. December 2024

2 December 2024

Wall built from core boxes to shade the area of the logging table.

1. December 2024

1 December 2024

Federico (and Lisa behind the shelf) unpacking the ice cores in the core buffer. Here the cores will rest for 2 days, before processing.

30. November 2024

30 November 2024

The archive boxes in the balloon cave.

29. November 2024

29 November 2024

The science team, also known as the cave people, in their natural habitat, the processing trench.

28. November 2024

28 November 2024

Reception of bag 2000 in the drill tent. FLTR: back: J. Westhoff, G. Lawer, M. Krebs, F. Wilhelms, J. Lemburg, middle: D. Collino, L. Ardoin, L. Soussaintjean, B. Seth, front: M. Scalet, M. Bouchet, A. Chung, I. Gay, F. Scoto.

27. November 2024

27 November 2024

The new weather station, erected by Eric, Sebastien, Rémi and Vito.

26. November 2024

26 November 2024

Excavating a ditch to remove load from the trench cover.

25. November 2024

25 November 2024

Celebrating the working Picarro.

24. November 2024

24 November 2024

Lemmi prefabricating the shelves for the Weatherhaven tent.

23. November 2024

23 November 2024

The pictures from the party have been censored, sorry! Just the picture of Barbara distributing her tasty crumble cake has been declassified.

22. November 2024

22 November 2024

Unpacking cores for evaporation and equilibration in the science trench.

21. November 2024

21 November 2024

Adjusting the anti-torque.

20. November 2024

20 November 2024

Reception of the first core in the drill trench.

19. November 2024

19 November 2024

A happy engineer, easily installing a new, Swiss made emergency stop on the saw.

18. November 2024

18 November 2024

Team -47°C setting up the processing line.

17. November 2024

17 November 2024

First common dinner of the nearly complete team at Little Dome C. FLTR: Federico, Frank, Matthias, Ailsa, Marie, Danilo, Gunther, Michele, Julien, Inès, Johannes, Manuela, Lisa, Martin, and in the front Lison.

19. January 2024

19 January 2024

Last drilled core of the 2023/2024 Beyond EPICA season; photo: T. Gerber

18. January 2024

18 January 2024

Cargo leaving for Concordia: photo: I Koldtoft

17. January 2024

17 January 2024

The science trench is ready for the winter: photo: J Westhoff

16. January 2024

16 January 2024

Digging a snow pit for Dieter from BAS: photo : J. Westhoff

15. January 2024

15 January 2024

Celebrating the last processed ice core of the season : photo J. Westhoff

14. January 2024

14 January 2024

Preparing pizza for saturday evening: photo : O. Alemany

13. January 2024

13 January 2024

Setting up additional security measures over the drill trench : photo : I. Gay

12. January 2024

12 January 2024

Updated water isotop measurments : A. Landais

11. January 2024

11 January 2024

Reparing the top valve : photo : O. Alemany

10. January 2024

10 January 2024

Removing the poulie cover to allow the cable to get through : F. Scoto

09. January 2024

9 January 2024

The BEOI field team and the Australian travers crew: photo : F. Scoto

08. January 2024

8 January 2024

Testing the dual tube sampler: photo : F. Scoto

07. January 2024

7 January 2024

Our carpenters Tamara and Lemmi who have improved the comfort of the sofa: J. Westhoff

06. January 2024

6 January 2024

Unloading core boxes in the balloon trench: photo: F. Scoto

05. January 2024

5 January 2024

Final ApRES measurment for the season : Photo : J. Westhoff

04. January 2024

4 January 2024

Fortunat first core : photo : J. Veale

03. January 2024

3 January 2024

Getting throught 1400 meters : photo : I. Koldtoft

02. January 2024

2 January 2024

Lemmi fine-tuning the horizontal saw : J. Westhoff

01. January 2024

1 January 2024

Stable water isotopes comparing the EPICA and the Beyond EPICA core.: from A. landais

31. December 2023

31 December 2023

Loading the second flight of A cut to MZS MZS: photo : I. Koldtoft

30. December 2023

30 December 2023

Flight of ice core boxes from Concordia to MZS: photo Gianluca Bianchi Fasani

29. December 2023

29 December 2023

Stable water isotopes from EPICA and Beyond EPICA.

28. December 2023

28 December 2023

Outer tube pins and antitorque blades, which we fine tuned today : photo: O. Alemany

27. December 2023

27 December 2023

Testing the dual tube snow sampler : photo M. Muhl

26. December 2023

26 December 2023

Julien and Rémi fixing the DEP electric cable : photo O. Alemany

25. December 2023

25 December 2023

Preparing Christmas decorations : photo J. Westhoff

24. December 2023

24 December 2023

View from the camp, the whole field team wish you a merry christmas: photo: O. Alemany.

23. December 2023

23 December 2023

Christmas vibes in the driller cabin: photo J. Westhoff

22. December 2023

22 December 2023

The impressive tilting trench: photo: O. Alemany

21. December 2023

21 December 2023

First water isotopes results : graph from A. Landais

20. December 2023

20 December 2023

The processing team celebrating the end of the process of the ice drilled last year: photo : F. Scoto

19. December 2023

19 December 2023

Celebrating 500 meters of processed ice core in the science trench. Photo : M. Mühl

18. December 2023

18 December 2023

Celebrating 1000 meters of ice core. Photo J. Westhoff

17. December 2023

17 December 2023

First ash layer of the season. Photo: Koldtoft

16. December 2023

16 December 2023

Our seismometers colleagues watching the arrival of another beautiful 4.5 meters core: photo O. Alemany

15. December 2023

15 December 2023

Lemmi preparing the second 4 meters core barrel: photo O. Alemany

14. December 2023

14 December 2023

The busy drill tent: photo O. Alemany

13. December 2023

13 December 2023

Loggers cutting the core in one-meter long sections: photo O. Alemany

12. December 2023

12 December 2023

The first 3.5 meters core of the season: photo : O. Alemany

11. December 2023

11 December 2023

Iben and Matthias setting up the Danish motor section: photo O. Alemany

10. December 2023

10 December 2023

Philippe setting up the conical head “Arnold”: photo : O. Alemany

09. December 2023

9 December 2023

The BEOI team at LDC and our distinguished guest: photo F. Scoto

08. December 2023

8 December 2023

The First core drilled this season: photo F. Scoto

07. December 2023

7 December 2023

Celebrating an all-female processing team: photo M. Mühl

06. December 2023

6 December 2023

The drill back at surface: photo : F; Scoto

05. December 2023

5 December 2023

The group photo in the drill tent: photo F. Scoto

04. December 2023

4 December 2023

Fortunat and Remi setting up the dual-tube snow sampling: photo O. Alemany

03. December 2023

3 December 2023

Matthias, Philippe and James aligning the extraction table: photo O. Alemany

02. December 2023

2 December 2023

Matthias trying out the drill motor section: photo O. Alemany

01. December 2023

1 December 2023

Arrival of the remaining team at LDC: photo:F. Scoto

30. November 2023

30 November 2023

Test of the tilting mast: photo F. Scoto

29. November 2023

29 November 2023

The team at MZS before flying yesterday, FLTR : Remy Dallmayr, Philippe Possenti, Gunther Lawer, Fortunat Joos Tamara Gerber, Johannes Lemburg, Michaela Mühl and Iben Koldtoft (bottom).

28. November 2023

28 November 2023

Removing the core shelves from the science trench.

27. November 2023

27 November 2023

BEIOC team at LDC opening the ice core science line: FLTR: Scoto, Panichi, Ceinini, Alemany, Hüther, Gay, Veale and Westhoff.

18. January 2023

18 January 2023

Drilling reaches 800 m depth – time for another group photo with the 800 m ice core, and a little celebration with a bottle of sparkling wine from Saverio. This is the full team at the Little Dome C camp: (back, left to right) Martin, Florian, Gunther, Lemmi, Matthias, Michele, Frank; (front, left to right) Robert, Romilly, Saverio, Andreas, Julien, Markus.

17. January 2023

17 January 2023

The Australian Antarctic Division chartered Ken Borek Basler at the BE-OIC camp, picking up shallow ice cores and one person from the Australian traverse. The Basler landed on the 2.4 km long skiway that had been prepared and groomed by both Michele and the Australian team using PistenBulley blades and a ski-resort type snow groomer. Although Twin Otters have landed in earlier seasons at camps on Little Dome C, this is the first ever landing by a Basler. The flight had originated at the Australian station Casey and flew back there after loading the cores.

16. January 2023

16 January 2023

14. January 2023

14 January 2023

The combined personnel from the BE-OIC drilling project, the French science traverse, and the Australian MYIC traverse.

13. January 2023

13 January 2023

Romilly collects a series of 30 cm short cores along a photogrammetry transect several times during the season, cutting the cores into 10 mm samples. The project is designed to follow the development of the snow surface topography and stable water isotopes during the season.

12. January 2023

12 January 2023

Read the field diary from 12. January 2023 here.
You can follow the progress of the drilling operation in this graph.

11. January 2023

11 January 2023

Gunther returns to camp with the GPS survey instrument.

10. January 2023

10 January 2023

Martin and Robert extracting the core barrel from the main barrel of the drill. In the background, to the left, is one of the two 1000 liter containers for handling the drill fluid – we’ll look more at how the fluid is handled and recovered from the drill in the next couple of days.

9. January 2023

9 January 2023

Lifting ice core boxes from the core buffer onto a trailer to transport them to Concordia for long-term storage.

8. January 2023

8 January 2023

Martin and Robert with the PB300 at a GPS survey station R-1.5.

7. January 2023

7 January 2023

Pizza night with the seven colleagues from the French science traverse.

6. January 2023

6 January 2023

Inside the core buffer – three shipping containers welded together with a door at each end. The top of the containers is about 2 m under the snow, and this allows us to maintain a temperature inside around -35°C during the height of the local summer, and around -55°C during the winter. In the foreground are the racks of core troughs where we will place freshly drilled brittle zone cores, uncut after drilling, to allow them to relax for a year before further handling, cutting and bagging. At the far end of the container are the full boxes of core ready for transfer to the long-term storage at Concordia Station – each box contains six 1 m long cores and weighs around 50 kg.

5. January 2023

5 January 2023

The arrival of the French scientific traverse on a rather dull cloudy day.

4. January 2023

4 January 2023

Andreas with his birthday tiramisu, which was prepared for him by Franco, one of the chefs at Concordia Station. (In reality, the tiramisu arrived one day after the birthday, but Andreas had a good chocolate cake prepared by Saverio on his actual birthday.

3. January 2023

3 January 2023

Giuditta (right) and Romilly (left) with bag number 424 on the cutting bench. The break in the ice is the join between two runs of the drill.

2. January 2023

2 January 2023

Long cores are back! Romilly measures the length of a newly drilled core on the core-loggers bench.

1. January 2023

1 January 2023

The drill head with flat cutters. The three outer cutters are razor sharp knives that cut an annulus in the ice, with the ice core sliding up the inside of the inner barrel, and the ice chips and drilling fluid slurry passes up spirals on the outside of the core barrel. The core catchers inside the drill head break off the core and hold it in the barrel when the drill is brought back to the surface.

31. December 2022

31 December 2022

Arnold – the hardened steel cone cutter designed to isolate any debris in the borehole into a cone-shaped indentation on the top of the next ice core drilled.

30. December 2022

30 December 2022

Romilly’s colleague Roxanne operates the vacuum and pressure pumps to extract air from a tube let into the near-surface compacted snow and compress into a ‘Silcocan’ gas canister for later measurement of the mix of gases in the laboratory at LSCE.

29. December 2022

29 December 2022

Saverio gets help making the pizzas from (left to right) Andreas, Giuditta, Julien, Michele and Saverio.

28. December 2022

28 December 2022

Martin at the bottom of the inclined trench, replacing the broken hatch on the borehole well-head. The photo is taken of the image on a video display in the drillers cabin that takes a video feed from a camera trained on the well-head. We normally use this display to monitor the safe entry of the drill into the borehole. Above Martin’s head hangs the drill, while to his left is a ventilation shaft that sucks away the drilling fluid fumes that otherwise accumulate at the bottom of the trench.

27. December 2022

27 December 2022

The 4-meter system outer barrel, which is 10 m long, is brought into the drill tent by (left to right) Matthias, Lemmi, Frank and Gunther to mount onto the drill tower, and connect to the anti-torque and motor sections.

26. December 2022

26 December 2022

We wave goodbye to Markus (left) and Florian (right) as they head back to Concordia after spending the holiday season with us. Vito looks on in the background.

25. December 2022

25 December 2022

Lemmi prepares the hollow shafts for the long AWI drill which has a 4 m long core barrel.

24. December 2022

24 December 2022

Bound for Concordia!

23. December 2022

23 December 2022

Robert measuring a newly drilled, unbroken, 2.93 m long core on the logging bench. ‘Logging’ records details of the ice cores drilled with any damage noted on a Danish-designed core logging program on the laptop in the left of the photo. The program prompts for the measurements that must be recorded, and catches any mistakes made! Cores must be matched at the core break from one run to the next, and marks made in pencil on the ice where the long lengths must be cut into 1.0 m long ‘bag’ sections for transport onwards. We also mark on the ice the direction of the top of the core, and the bag number. Above the core is a roll of paper used for drying off the drilling fluid from the surface of the ice. To the right of the photo are racks with two hollow shaft sections (top and bottom) and an outer barrel (middle rack). On the floor, with green spirals, is the Danish core barrel.